Handled container with sliding cover



Dec. 3, 1968 T. c. MURR HANDLED CONTAINER WITH SLIDING COVER Filed April 28 1967 mi W i INV ENT OR feaaafie 5. Warm ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,414,159 HANDLED CONTAINER WITH SLIDING COVER Theodore 'C. Murr, 2001 Wentworth Ave., South St. Paul, Minn. 55075 Filed Apr. 28, 1967, Ser. No. 634,678 6 Claims. (Cl. 220-41) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A handled container with a sliding cover which has particular utility as a childs lunchbox, but which lends itself to many other uses, as for example, a merchandising container for toys, food, ice cream or the like. The particular construction of the container is such that the body and cover each provide cooperating coincident portions of a single handle, and when the container is being carried, with the hand of the carrier grasping the handle, it is impossible for the container to fall open. The structure lends itself particularly well to economical molding in synthetic plastics, and a wedging construction of the body flange as received in the slotted cover insures that the cover and body are in tight, sealed relationship when the two handle portions are coincident. The structure, with its fiat, uninterrupted surfaces, also lends itself particularly well to ease in repeated cleaning and to the reception of printed material, such as designs, slogans, safety colors and safety patterns.

This invention relates to containers, and more specifically to a handled container with sliding cover, wherein the body of the container and the cover each provide cooperating, coincident portions of a single carrying handle when the cover is closed.

Background of the invention With the development 'of large, consolidated schools, and with the widespread use of school buses, thousands of school children are required to carry lunch containers. These containers are generally of modest size and, of necessity must be simply and cheaply constructed. Generally, sandwiches and. dessert are carried in the container, and milk is provided at the school. The complex and expensive lunch buckets used by workmen are obviously unsuited for this purpose.

The lunch boxes in current use are generally made of relatively thin metal, with a hinged cover, with a snap latch, and with a carrying handle on the body portion of the box. These containers are usually covered with pictures and designs. I

Substantial difficulties have been found, however, with the lunch boxes generally used. One of the most common problems is that the child will wildly swing the lunch box, the latch will be inadvertently released, and the food will fly out of the box, usually being irretrievably damaged in the process.

A further problem in the standard use lunchbox is that the children quickly damage the inexpensive hinged construction and the box is easily made totally useless by failure of one or more of the hinges. Further, the hinged structure is very difficult to wash and clean, and the metal very quickly rusts, especially in the hinge and latch areas where moisture is retained.

A further problem in such containers has been that in meeting the absolute requirement for low cost, the hinge and latch units are so inadequately designed that they have very little useful life, and the lunch containers must be repeatedly replaced.

There is also a need for an economical merchandising container which is particularly adapted for easy molding 3,414,159 Patented Dec. 3, 1968 carrying container for the merchandise therein, which may be easily opened for access to the merchandise as desired, and which has further and repeated use for other purposes as desired by the purchaser of the packaged merchandise.

Summary of the invention It is an object of the present invention to provide a structure which substantially eliminates the difliculties pointed out above and which is sufficiently versatile to meet the noted demands and requirements in the market.

The container of the invention is by its simple, straightforward design particularly adapted for molding from synthetic plastics. The simple structure makes possible the manufacturing of the container using only two parts, thus eliminating all hinges, fastening latches and separately attached handles.

The cover and body of the container have integral projecting handle portions, which portions, when the cover is closed, are coincident and overlie to form a single handle with an opening therein adequately sized to receive a childs gloved hand. Thus, when the container is being carried by the child, with the childs hand grasping the handle through the opening, it is impossible for the box to open. Thus, no matter how wildly the box may be swung, it is impossible for the box to release the contents.

Further, flanges on the body of the box which are slidingly received by the cover are made wedge-shaped, so that when the cover is closed and the handles are in coincident overlying relation, the cover and box will be wedged in tight, sealed relation. This not only helps to preserve the freshness of any food product held in the container, but if the box is dropped, it may not easily be forced open to discharge the contents.

Another advantage of the structure disclosed is that the overlocking arrangement of the cover and box, with the cover being provided with reversely bent flanges to define a groove, makes possible a tight closure, with the use of relatively soft plastic materials.

A further advantage of the invention is that the simplicity of construction, with its separable parts, makes it easy to keep the container clean, which is particularly necessary when it is being used for food. Cleaning utensils may reach all parts of the structure, and there are no areas where materials are permanently joined to provide crevasses which hold moisture and food particles.

The structure provided obviously lends itself to low cost production. The large flat surfaces are well adapted to receive printed material, such as safety slogans or pictures, and the box may also be printed in brilliant colors or patterns so as to render a child carrying the container highly visible when walking along a sidewalk or road, particularly on dark or rainy days.

It will be noted that the container of the invention is likewise particularly adapted for use as a merchandising container for toys, food products such as ice cream, and the like. The low cost of the two part unit makes it possible to package the merchandise in a container which is easily and safely carried in that it may not easily fall open. By making the structure of a clear, synthetic plastic, the merchandise is fully visible to the purchaser. Further, when desired, the container is easily opened to remove the merchandise, and the said container then becomes a carrying container of general utility.

Description of the drawing FIGURE 1 of the drawing is a rear elevational view of the container of the invention in the position in which it is normally carried by the user.

FIGURE 2 is a.longitudinal sectional view taken on the line 22 of FIGURE 1, and showing the manner in which the handle portions of the box and cover are coincident when the cover is closed to form a single carrying handle.

FIGURE 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 33 of FIGURE 1, and showing the cooperative relationship between flanges on the body and reversely the guide flanges on the cover.

Description of the preferred embodiment With specific reference to the drawings, it is noted that the container is formed of two parts, namely a body and a cover 11. The body portion 10 is preferably of generally rectangular constructions with end walls 12 and 13, side walls 14 and 15, and bottom wall 16. At the upper marginal edge of the side walls 14 and 15 are outwardly directed flanges 17 and 18. These flanges, at the end of the container body having the side wall 12, merge into an integral handle extension 19. This integral handle extension is preferably tapered, as shown in FIGURE 1, and is provided with an opening which is designed to be large enough to easily receive the fingers of a gloved hand. It should be noted that the flanges 17, 18 and the handle extension 19 are all coplanar, as is best shown in FIG- URE 2. It will be noted that the dimension X (FIGURE 1), representing the distance between the outer edges of the flanges 17 and 18, is slightly greater than the dimension Y (FIGURE 1) between the flanges at the opposite end of the body of the container. This represents a taper in the flanges, such that when the cover 11 is in closed position, the edges of the flanges 17 and 18 will have moved into tight engagement with the container cover 11 for tight frictional holding within the cover.

The cover 11 is preferably made of an integral sheet 21, which has extending therefrom a handle extension 22, which handle extension has substantially the same shape and dimensions as the handle extension 19 of the body 10. This extension 22 has an opening 23 therein exactly the same size and coincident with the opening 20 in handle extension 19 of the body 10.

The side edges of the cover sheet 21 are provided with flanges 24 and 25 which are bent downwardly and inwardly to provide grooves 26 and 27, respectively, which receive the flanges 17 and 18 of the container body. The grooves 26 and 27 are so dimensioned that the flanges f7 and 18 slide freely but firmly within the grooves. The distance between the bottom walls of the opposed grooves is substantially the same as, or slightly less than, the dimension X of FIGURE 1. This insures that when the cover 19 is closed, there will be the previously mentioned close friction fit between the outer side walls of the flanges 17 and 18 and the bottoms of the grooves 26 and 27, respectively.

The end of the cover which is adjacent the end wall 13 of the body is provided with a downwardly turned end flange 28. This end flange provides a stop for the cover when it is slid toward closed position, so that the handle openings 20 and 23 will be exactly coincident. The said flange 28 has a projecting portion 29 substantially midway between the side walls of the container, which provides a finger grip for use when the container is to be opened. The fingers of one hand are grasped lightly around portions of the handle defined by the end of the handle openings 20 and 23. The fingers of the other hand then engage the opened end of the projecting portion 29,

and the cover is moved, by sliding, toward an open position. The fingers grasping the handle then continue to hold only the extension 19 of the body and the cover is completely removed.

What is claimed is:

1. In a container,

a body portion,

a first handle means projecting from said body portion,

a cover for said body portion,

a second handle means projecting from said cover,

said projecting handle means of said body and said cover being substantially coincident when said cover is closed, thereby forming a single carrying handle for said container,

said cover being a sliding cover, there being guide groove means for fastening and guiding said. cover relative to said body,

said first handle means being in the plane of the open marginal edge of said body portion,

said second handle means, when said cover is closed,

being an extension of the plane of said cover.

2. A container as set forth in claim 1,

said guide groove means comprising outturned flanges at the side marginal edges of said body portion and reversely turned edges of said cover forming guide grooves for said flanges, and

stop means on said cover to limit sliding movement of said cover when said cover has reached closed position.

3. A structure as set forth in claim 1,

said first handle means being rigidly integral with said body portion,

said second handle means being rigidly integral with said cover, and

stop means on said cover limiting sliding movement of said cover when said cover has reached closed position and said handle means are coincident.

4. In a container,

a body portion,

a first handle means projecting from said body portion,

a cover for said body portion,

a second handle means projecting from said cover,

said projecting handle means of said body and said cover being substantially coincident when said cover is closed, thereby forming a single carrying handle for said container,

said cover being a sliding cover, there being guide groove means for fastening and guiding said cover relative to said body,

said guide groove means comprising two interfitting groove and flange portions, one of said portions being tapered relative to the other,

whereby said cover and body portion will move into a frictional locking engagement when said cover is closed.

5. A structure as set forth in claim 4,

said flange portions comprising outturned flanges on said body portion which are tapered to a narrower dimension toward the end of said body portion opposite said handle.

6. A structure as set forth in claim 4, further including stop means on said cover limiting sliding movement of said cover when said cover has reached closed position and said handle means are coincident,

said stop means having an enlarged portion serving as a finger grip for sliding said cover to open position.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS JAMES B. MARBERT, Primary Examiner. 

